Dr. Alex Nolan II's Arc

Chapter 6 of 13

The heat from the artifact grew stronger with each step north. Nolan tried to ignore it, shifting the pack on his shoulders, but the warmth spread across his back like a hand pressing down. He stopped and set the pack on the ground. The purple glow showed through the canvas, steady and bright. He tried to walk on without it. Three steps forward and the brand on his arm flared white-hot, dropping him to his knees. The pain shot through his shoulder and down to his fingertips. When he crawled back to the pack, the burning stopped. The river curved ahead through dense trees, their bark blackened and twisted, purple sap oozing down the trunks in slow rivulets. A pool spread across the mud where the sap collected, dark water shot through with oily purple streaks. The jungle had changed while he wasn't looking. Nolan opened the pack. The artifact lay inside, the skull pattern vivid against wet canvas. He pulled it out and the glow intensified, warm against his palms. Ahead, between the twisted trees, something rose from the ground. A statue carved from dark stone, moss hanging from its shoulders, one arm reaching toward him. The skull face bore lavender eyes that blazed like the figure in the river. The other arm pointed back the way he'd come, south, away from the fishermen and the settlement and everything that led home. He wrapped the artifact in the canvas and tucked it under his good arm. The brand cooled. The statue's eyes dimmed to faint points of light. Nolan turned and walked back along the riverbank, each step taking him farther from north. The twisted trees straightened as he passed. The purple pool faded to brown mud. When he looked back, the statue was gone, but the artifact pressed warm against his ribs. It had shown him what it wanted. Not to go home. Not yet.